It’s a wet, rainy July morning at Mehboob Studio. The salmon pink on the set is still damp in awkward patches, taking its own time to dry. Set against it is a rack full of soothing nudes – a stark contrast to the dreary grey outside.

Apte walks in – all 5' 3" of her. She has a strong presence for someone that petite. The actor is set to leave for London that evening – we are racing against the clock. “I have been doing too many things simultaneously,” she sighs, as we chat on the ride back to her house, having successfully wrapped up our shoot in the limited time we had. “I was shooting for Bazaar, Andhadhun, Sacred Games and two Hollywood movies this year. To add to it, everything is happening across three different countries, and it’s been absolutely hectic. I haven’t had a single day off in many months. I’m finally taking a break and going to London on a holiday.” She adds: “Though not really” as an afterthought. Before I could probe any further, she says, “I still have packing to do” to no one in particular – making a mental checklist of all the things on her perhaps never-ending to-do list.

As we speak with the actor, the fate of her latest venture Sacred Games – Netflix’s first original Indian web series was being determined having released the same day. Based on Vikram Chandra’s novel of the same name, the show stars Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and our cover girl in lead roles with direction by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane. “The story is about a cop and a gangster. But mostly, it’s a story about Bombay,” she says. The show chronicles the transition of the gritty Bombay of the ’80s through the lens of Kashyap and merges it with the Mumbai of now. Apte plays an integral part in the latter. “It’s a great ensemble cast with incredible actors in character roles,” she says. “I play a RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agent from New Delhi who wants to be a field agent, but people would rather have her working behind the desk. It is about how she gets involved in the case.” The show is well scripted and directed, its content is a hard-hitting commentary on the zeitgeist of today.

“I am very excited,” she exclaims. “Not just for me, but for the show. Everyone has put in a lot of effort and made it a great watch. Right from the first shot, I promise you will be hooked.” Sure enough, the show lived up to this promise when it opened to rave reviews. The eight one-hour episodes kept us on tenterhooks thank to the gripping cliffhangers.

Earlier in June, Apte was seen in the much-awaited Lust Stories on Netflix – an anthology consisting of four segments shot by Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Karan Johar. She portrayed the role of a slightly bizarre professor whose character is on a quest to find the perfect relationship, on Kashyap’s segment.

“If you watch the film, you don’t understand why she is behaving in a certain way,” explains Apte. “Some could relate to it, others didn’t like it at all. Anurag wanted the character to be full of contradictions, and yet he needed people to be empathetic towards her,” she explains. “We shot it over four days and it was a great experiment for me. I trust Anurag a 100 per cent.”

With a movie and a show on Netflix, we were curious to know if exploring this new medium posed a challenge for Apte. “A series format gives you a chance to explore the characters, rather than have a two-minute part in the film” she says. “There are no censorships, so you are free to depict things the way you wish to and are not bound by rules. That’s very liberating. But as an actor your job remains the same. The platform is insignificant as long as you are doing good work.”

Sheer sequined dress, Sunaina Khera, INR 75,000

Apte is undoubtedly an unusual artist by Bollywood’s paradigm of a leading lady. She has unabashedly proven her acting chops in character-driven indie films such as Parched, Shor in the City, Badlapur, Rakht Charitra and Dhoni. With no mainstream blockbuster to her credit yet, she often gets stereotyped as an unconventional actor. But Apte doesn’t find anything ‘unconventional’ about herself. “It could be so, if you compare the roles I take up with the kind of characters typically portrayed in Bollywood. But it’s a choice I make. I don’t wish to stand out – it’s about what I find challenging. I choose roles that I think will make me happy. It’s a dream job to be able to work in a project that you would like to watch yourself.”

She’s wearing an anti-fit indigo cotton dress, sitting with her legs crossed and her hair thrown into a messy knot. Apte appears to be at ease with herself. This can also be witnessed in the way the actor consented to grace the cover of this issue where Grazia collaborates with Dove on their ‘No Digtial Distortion’ pledge. What this means is that the gorgeous images you see of the actor on our August cover and cover story have not been digitally enhanced or heavily glossed up with the aid of digital tools. Apte owns every line, every mark and every imperfection with confidence, boldly redefining the rules of beauty. We need more such role models in the industry to look up to, that set realistic beauty standards, and spread the message of diversity in beauty, self-love and acceptance. Was she apprehensive about it? “No, it’s great that there is no digital distortion on the cover,” she says. “There are times when you’re photoshopped and you can barely recognise yourself. And there are other times when you look exactly like everyone else does. I think its unique that I will be portrayed as the real me. This is what I really look like.” It’s a bold move, and the first of its kind.

While today she seems self-assured, that wasn’t always the case she tells us. “When I first came to Bombay, I took a break from my studies to see if I could make it as an actor,” she recounts. “I didn’t know how to go about it, but someone I knew gave me a contact of a big female producer. When I met her, the first thing she said to me was – ‘You have good eyes and lips, but your nose is a problem.’ I was asked to change my entire wardrobe, my mindset and who I am. It was depressing and demoralising.” Another instance she recalls was in Pune when she met with a casting director on the set of a movie they were shooting in the city. “He pointed to someone on the set with huge breasts and a large butt, and said – ‘You need to look like this.’ When you are as young as 17 or 18, it is very difficult to understand or accept this criticism.”

Refusing to succumb to the perils of Bollywood, the actor returned to Pune where she continued to hone her acting skills by doing theatre. There, she was noticed and given offers – few of which she did accept before taking a sabbatical and heading to London. “As soon as I left offers started pouring in,” she shares. “I was offered a massive film that I eventually lost out on. It was written for me and it went on to be a huge success. But when I returned from London, I was told I was too fat to be cast in the film.” She continues, “I knew I had put on some weight, having backpacked before I returned, but we were two months away from filming, and I assured them I would lose the extra kilos. But they still refused.”

It must have been damaging to a certain extent to be slapped with all that criticism when you are so young and impressionable. “It would bother me. But I used it to my advantage to instill confidence if myself. I decided to get fit. Today, I eat everything but exercise control over how much I want to eat. No one comments on my weight anymore.” On that note, we ask, has the industry become more inclusive? “I think so,” she says. “It’s incredible that certain actors we have today don’t fit model measurements, but are hugely successful and are looked at as sexy and desirable. It is great when people own their bodies. That is what makes them beautiful.” So, has she bid goodbye to all the insecurities that may have plagued her? “Insecurities don’t go easily. We are human after all.”

Apte is currently immersed in upcoming projects. “Ghoul releases on Netflix this month. There is also Andhadhun with Sriram [Raghavan], Bazaar with Nikhil Advani, featuring Saif [Ali Khan], Rohan Mehra and Chitrangada [Singh].” With one foot in Hollywood, the actor has two upcoming projects. “One is with Michael Winterbottom and Dev Patel, and the other is Lydia Pilcher’s untitled.”

Dabbling in theatre, films and web series, Atpe lives by what we came to realise is her catch phrase or mantra – “I just want to do good work. That’s all that matters.”